Part 14 (1/2)

Rainey was relieved. ”Good. I'm glad they are there.”

She heard Tim tap lightly on a door and then say, ”Katie, honey, Rainey's on the phone. She wants to speak to you.”

Rainey heard Katie's m.u.f.fled voice, but she couldn't make out what she said.

Tim spoke again, ”Katie, I'm not going to relay messages. Be an adult and come to the door.”

There was sound of rustling around and then Katie's voice came over the line. ”I don't want to talk to you.”

”Katie, I'm sorry.”

”Sorry for what, Rainey, that you finally said what you really think, instead of what you thought I wanted to hear?”

”Well, I can tell you're still angry. I guess a rational discussion is out of the question, at this point.”

Rainey called that one correctly. Katie shouted into the phone, ”You're d.a.m.n right!” Katie took a breath and gathered steam. ”Go play FBI agent. That's what you want to do. Go be a hero, get your thrills.”

”Katie, I don't want to be an agent. I didn't ask for this.”

”No, you didn't, but you knew there was a distinct possibility that this would happen. Something you didn't think was necessary to share with me. Now, I really know why you are the way you are. Your paranoia, the nightmares, it's not because of what you've seen and done. It's because you knew someone was coming. How many more men are going to come hunting you?”

Rainey could only answer, ”I don't know.”

”Well, you should know. Instead, you stay out there on the lake like bait, just waiting for them to come for you. You might not have a death wish, Rainey, but it's as if you don't think you should have survived the first attack. You put on a show of moving on, but you haven't. I survived nearly being murdered and look at the rest of my life like a bonus. You look at it like borrowed time. I'm not going to sit around and watch you wait to die.”

The connection terminated relatively quickly after that. Rainey held the phone in her hand, staring down at it. Katie was right. Rainey could know more about the criminals that might come after her. She did just sit back and wait. Rainey could have been more proactive about their safety. She could have had Danny checking these guys' mail, if they were in prison, or keep her posted on the unsolved cases she was involved in. She simply closed the box and prayed it stayed closed. But what Katie did not understand was, even with all her training and precautions, Rainey would never know for sure if, or when a psychopath was coming for her.

The phone rang in her hand. It was Katie's parents' number. Rainey flipped the phone open and put it to her ear.

Katie began talking right away. She was much calmer than before, when she said, ”Rainey, I'm not coming home until you catch this guy. So, you go get him. I don't want you distracted worrying about me or us. When this is over, we'll talk.”

”Will you promise me you'll be careful? Don't go anywhere by yourself.” Rainey pleaded. ”Why don't you and your parents leave town?”

”My sisters will be here tomorrow. My mom suggested we go back to L.A. with them.”

”That would be great,” Rainey said, relieved that the Meyers family, at least, appeared to have discussed it. Then quickly, before Katie could hang up again, she said, ”Katie, I don't want to lose you. Just let me deal with this and I will spend the rest of my life keeping my promise to you.”

All the wind had gone out of Katie's anger, now. In a hushed voice, she asked, ”What promise are you talking about?”

”I promised you we'd be happy.”

Katie sniffled. Rainey knew she was crying again.

”I love you, Katie.”

”I love you, too, Rainey. Please, be careful.”

”Always.”

Rainey heard the call lost tone and knew Katie was gone. She flipped the phone shut with a mission to accomplish, so she could have her life back, a life with Katie, children, and a happily ever after. She understood why Katie didn't want to come home. The distance between them made it easier for Katie to deal with the fear and worry. Katie recognized that she was a distraction and she wanted Rainey focused on the killer, not her. Rainey had a job to do, and if given the chance, she would kill this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He would be one less a.s.shole Rainey would have to worry about in the future, and before this was over, she would make sure Dalton Chambers was sitting on death row, where he belonged. If they would let her, she would insert the needle.

When Danny arrived, shortly thereafter, Rainey met him at the door of his SUV. She had already filled Ernie in on her plans. Before leaving the cottage, she redressed, digging out her former work clothes from the closet in her old room. That's where she kept the FBI jackets and hats, the dark suits, and other echoes of her former life. Now, she looked like the poster girl for the FBI; white blouse, black slacks, and blazer to match, with her Glock clipped to her hip. Her hair hung in a thick braid down the back of her neck. A few loose curls framed her face. She wasn't going to sit back and play defense any longer. She was in offensive mode, focused, and ready to do battle for her life.

Before Danny could get all the way out of the vehicle, Rainey said, ”I'm in. Get me my credentials.”

Danny asked, ”For good, or like on the Y-man case, temporary reinstatement?”

”It's temporary. I'm never going back full-time.”

Danny smiled. ”I processed the paper work for your temporary reinstatement before I left.” He reached back into the vehicle, producing Rainey's credentials in the leather case she recognized as her own. A long, deep scratch in the leather was a reminder from a particularly hairy arrest. He smiled when he handed it to her. ”I had a sneaking suspicion you might be needing this.”

Rainey took the case, opened it, and saw her official badge number on the gold s.h.i.+eld. The picture on the ID was at least two years old. It was taken just before her father was killed. Rainey barely recognized her former self. Too much had happened since then. She thought she left all this behind her. Rainey put the credentials in her blazer pocket and looked back at Danny.

”When this is over, I want to sit down and come up with a plan to keep this from happening again. Katie pointed out that I've been sitting around waiting, instead of getting ahead of these guys. If one of these a.s.sholes breathes my name, I want to know about it.”

”Are you and Katie all right?”

”As all right as we can be, right now.” Rainey kicked at the ground. ”She's staying with her parents until this is over.”

Danny must have sensed Rainey's mood accurately, because he let the subject of Katie drop. He pointed to the office door. ”Okay, let's get you caught up.” He started for the door.

Rainey grabbed his arm. ”Danny, I want to see Dalton.”

”Right now? I need to tell you what we found at the last crime scene.”

”Now, Danny. You can catch me up on the way.”

”Are you sure that's wise? This could be his whole reason for doing this, to see you scared.”

Rainey narrowed her eyes. ”Do I look scared to you?”

Chapter eleven.

In 1870, North Carolina began construction on Central Prison, the first inst.i.tution of its kind in the state. The castle-like building, complete with parapet walks and conical spires, took inmates fourteen years to build, using granite quarried just outside the prison's east wall. The prison underwent many renovations over the years, the last in the 1980's, losing its Gothic dark looks for a more modern facade. Only a few of the older buildings remained on the prison's twenty-nine acres, located near downtown Raleigh.

Central Prison housed the Tar Heel state's worst criminals, along with Death Row where inmates awaited appeals and the ultimate punishment a jury of their peers prescribed for them. Velma Barfield, the first woman in the United States to be executed since 1962, and the first woman to receive a lethal injection, said her re-born Christian final prayers there. Rainey hoped this was the last place Dalton Chambers would draw a breath.

A long corridor stretched the length of the prison, connecting all the buildings. Command stations and secure entryways controlled access into each building along the pa.s.sage. When Danny left the prison yesterday, he asked that Dalton be moved to ”Cell C,” where Death Row inmates spent the hours just before the state exacted its retribution. There were no executions scheduled, making it the most isolated area in the prison. Danny wanted to know every person that came in contact with Dalton. This was the easiest way to control that. Besides, Rainey thought it was an excellent way to give Dalton a glimpse of the reality of his future.

Since the door on the cell holding Dalton had only a small narrow window, the guards placed him at a little stainless steel table attached to the floor outside the cell. He waived his right to council, which would have delayed the meeting until arrangements could be made. Dalton was anxious to see Rainey, too eager to do the smart thing and wait for his North Carolina attorneys to be present.

When Rainey entered the room, Dalton appeared to have been staring at the door, awaiting her arrival. He broke into a smile of self-satisfaction when he saw her. He was handcuffed and chained, wearing a stun belt, just like the last time Rainey was at ”The Onion,” in Virginia. A few feet away a guard held the control box, with his finger on the b.u.t.ton, ready to light Dalton up. He was three years older and was starting to look more like the man he would have grown into, if he were not a s.a.d.i.s.tic killer. He would die long before his cherubic looks turned him into a distinguished looking older man. Even with the appeals process, Dalton would be dead years before he turned forty. Rainey was going to see to that.

Rainey walked straight to the table and stood over Dalton, just within his reach. She hoped he would make a move towards her. She wanted one good punch to his pretty face, before the guards could get to him. Dalton sat absolutely still, but his eyes travelled up her body. He made no effort to conceal his leering look at her chest, while he spoke.